A sad realization

"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
02/20/2015 at 18:49 • Filed to: None

Our Ford Flex currently has just under 140k miles on it. It has lost at least 85% of its value and covered around half of the states in the U.S. since we bought it in 2009. It's had a couple issues in that time, some of them which fell under the hundred thousand mile warranty, some which didn't, but for the most part, it has been reliable. It's comfortable, too, apart from my minor gripe about the headrests in the front. And spacious. My God. A Roller probably can't touch the 2nd row room of that cube, and the third row is still bigger than the second row in many midsize cars. It was far from perfect. It torque steers like a sonofabitch, the "chrome" grill started to wrinkle a couple years in, and the DVD player developed a squeak that never really stopped. But on the whole, it has been a good car. A really good car. Which is important, when you think about it.

Back in 2005, my dad had a Lexus GS300, also a superb car. One day, we saw a boxy concept car in Autoweek or some such. It was the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and my dad said at the time, half seriously, "If they build that thing, I will buy it." Fast forward four years. The economy has tanked, and with it, the Big Three have been turned upside down. Ford was, arguably, the quickest to recover, and part of that recovery was to launch their old concept car as the longer, lower, boxier, ironically named Flex. And, true to his word, my dad headed down to the dealer and placed his order for one of the first Flexus in town. I remember the day we picked it up from the dealer, we headed over to a nearby Five Guys for dinner, and wound up parking to another family in an identical whit over brown Flex that they had picked up a few days before. It was months before we saw another one, and the car attracted questions, compliments, and some disgusted looks everywhere it went. It was weird, it was funky, it was original, and it was American. And that, my friends, is that significant part.

Before I was born, my parents did have some American cars. My dad's first three or four cars, including a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , were GM. My mom had a '71 Dart to start out with. My birth was directly preceded by the sale of their XJ Cherokee and Chrysler Concorde, both from roughly the year 1995. But in my lifetime, the cars were all imports. My dad had an Audi 100, a Volvo S70, and then the Lexus. My mom took me home from the hospital in an Isuzu Trooper, which was traded in a few years later for the first of three Audi A6 Avants. I never thought too much about the country of origin of these cars, until it came time for the Flex. Only then did I realize that this was the first American car my parents had owned in my lifetime. As I said, it was made just as for was transitioning from meh to wow, and the Flex, as I said, reflected that. It had some downsides, but was mostly good, and my dad and I agree that we would absolutely buy one again. I don't know if American cars had been "broken" for my family, but if they had, the Flex sure as hell fixed them.

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And here I am now. There's a chance that we may keep the Flex another year, because no car payments is a beautiful thing. But the odds are that within the next six months, it will be replaced. And here's the sad part: we bought American back when they were just starting to get good again, and we loved it. Now, they're back !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and this would be the perfect time for us to choose from one of dozens of their excellent family cars and SUVs. Yet somehow, after testing each and every one we'd realistically look at, they've all come up negative. That is not to say any of them were bad cars, quite the opposite. They all wowed us with nice rides, good space, quality interiors, enough power, toys galore, and everything else we'd loved about the Flex. But as you know, you drive cars that are great, and then you find cars that are the right car for you. And so it came to be that the top three contenders to replace the Flex were a German, a Japanese, and a Swede. I love imported cars, as you all know. But I love American cars, too. And as much as I am head-over heels in love with the Infiniti FX/QX/whatever, the BMW X5, and the Volvo XC70 T6, I can't help but be a little sad. I have a hint of regret about the Jeep Grand Cherokee and its tiny greenhouse, the Chevy SS and its high price tag, the Ecoboost Flex and its sameness, and all the others. Each one possessed one flaw, not of build or design, but a small flaw that caused us to decide it wasn't for us. And so, with no sadness or ceremony (because that would be weird as hell), we moved on.

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There's still a chance that we'll find a great deal on a Durango, or a 300C, or an Acadia or even an MKT that will wind up in our garage. But right now, it looks like that won't be the case. So yes, I am a little sad that the American auto industry came so close, so offing close to worming its way back into our family completely, and now it's probably not gonna happen. That's ironic in many ways, and it sucks. But I can't really be that sad for three reasons. One, I do really like the cars we have narrowed down. Two, the American auto industry didn't come back just to sell us one lousy car. It's doing fine, likely better than ever, and that makes me happy. And three, this next car will be far from our last. There will be many more rides to come, both for my parents and me, and I can guarantee that sometime in the not so distant future, at least one of us will be back behind the wheel of a domestic car. The Flex was a good first course, and it will be too hard not to come back for more.

'Murica. Fuck yeah.

DISCUSSION (23)

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 18:50

Kinja'd!!!

Also, I just realized how awkward this slit about the license plate looks. Yeesh.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 18:56

WHY DID YOU CROSS OUT ACADIA? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TELL ME WHY?

davedave1111 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 18:56

So what you seem to be saying is that really you should just keep the Flex. Honestly, I can't understand why you'd even consider getting rid at this point. You've sucked up the depreciation, so now you get to enjoy the same thing (with known history) for a few years without any more big costs. Even if you take it into a shop and give them a few thousand bucks to replace practically every wear item, you'll still be ahead compared to buying a new car.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
02/20/2015 at 19:01

Because it's kind of a blob of a thing.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > davedave1111
02/20/2015 at 19:02

That's definitely a consideration, but it's also not as fun to deal with a car that's starting to go wrong.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 19:05

Youre a blob thing.

Did you look at the Tahoe/Yukon at all?

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
02/20/2015 at 19:08

Yes, but a full-sized truck based SUV isn't what we're looking for.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 19:10

Awwwwwwwwwww, but they're good vehicles and pretty capable.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
02/20/2015 at 19:11

We do not need any of the capabilities that they are capable of. What we do need is something that doesn't get completely horrendous MPG, isn't that massive, and is a little sportier to drive.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 19:13

but 'murica

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
02/20/2015 at 19:14

No. Sit down.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 19:19

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
02/20/2015 at 19:21

Fine. Stay standing. You'll get tired eventually.

davedave1111 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 19:25

I can understand that point, hence my idea about just spending the money - probably more than it would ever cost in total - on hitting everything up pre-emptively. I mean, compared to the cost of depreciation on a new car, you could even have a new DVD player put in and it wouldn't be too expensive. But I was thinking more like all the replaceable parts - belts, pumps, shocks, ball joints, etc. By the time all that's done, what's left to go wrong?

JGrabowMSt > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 19:27

Dude, the newest 300C looks sleek and sexy, it totally has my vote. Sad to see that the Flex's time is running out, because it is truly a great looking car. I think that you should save the Flex and yank the motor, and then get yourself a row-your-own transmission and a Ford Coyote V8 and turn the Flex into everything it should have been from the beginning, a monsterous V8 Fairlane.

If only it was less crossover and more wagon. Its a shame what too tall a beltline can do...

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > davedave1111
02/20/2015 at 19:27

Nothing, but this decision isn't purely financial. As much as the Flex is a good car, after six years, something new (or new to us) and sportier would be nice. There's a good chance that the option you presented will be the one we go with, but there's also a good chance it won't. If we get a new car, it will be in part due to the fact that we want a new car.

T5Killer > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 19:29

This makes me want to find a used flex.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > JGrabowMSt
02/20/2015 at 19:30

I agree, and as I said to davedave, this isn't the Flex's eulogy. We'll have it for at least two more months, maybe up to another year. This is just some thoughts.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > T5Killer
02/20/2015 at 19:30

I know where you can pick one up cheap...

JGrabowMSt > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 19:33

Dont let it go, fight for the rebirth of American hot rodding by stuffing a Coyote in there. You'll be able to race the HEMIWagon with it.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > JGrabowMSt
02/20/2015 at 19:47

You have no idea how much I love that idea. And *if* we decide to replace it with an Ecoboost Flex, which isn't out of the question, we may get close to that.

JGrabowMSt > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 19:51

My sole problem is the FWD or AWD. Why not just a RWD? If there's an AWD platform, it means things could be super easy....so close, but so far....

davedave1111 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/20/2015 at 20:17

Well, I guess that's fair enough :)

Personally, in your position I think I'd look to keep the Flex for a bit longer and save enough to buy something else outright so you can stick with the no-car-payments thing.